Friday, January 09, 2009

From the third Test match of the 1997 Lions Tour to South Africa, played on July 5th: a little bit of conflict between spectators.

Having already won the series but looking for a series white wash over the world champion Springboks, the Lions found the final Test a bridge too far. The South Africans restored some pride with a 35-16 victory.

This little incident however, gives us a look at the other side of the picture, as it shows how the coaches respond to a piece of questionable play from Springbok forward Andre Venter.

Despite Ian McGeechan's attempts to keep forwards coach Jim Telfer quiet, the hard-as-nails Scotsman banters with a South African fan who points out Venter only stamped the Lion because he was being held onto illegally.

Another fan, in front of Telfer adds her two cents in Afrikaans. Telfer can't resist getting in the last words, "Speak English", before everyone moves on and refocuses their attention on the game.

The funniest bit is McGeechan trying to calm him down - "Don't talk to them, don't talk to them , it's not worth it" - and then when Telfer says "Speak English" you can see McGeechan elbowing him in the ribs.

I could be wrong here, but I always thought the great JT actually says "Ah speak English" as in "I speak English". I'd assumed the woman asks him what language he speaks as she can't quite follow his glorious borders brogue. Still priceless though. And, it wasn't on telly this is from the peerless Living with Lions 1997 DVD. Telfer has sadly retired to his garden and the rugby world's a duller place for that, but we can assume he'll be front and centre in front of the telly come the summer. Probably phoning Geech and telling where he's going wrong. Bring 'em on!!

Lovely stuff RD .. you've hit your stride early in the new year. But like Fridge I wonder what the coaches are doing in the stand amongst the punters. 1997 ain't that long ago but I can't remember it being normal practice, maybe it was.

I don't recall implying idiocy on anyone's part. One of the many great things about this site is the distinct lack of it in the chat. But I humbly apologise and I stand corrected in mis-hearing JT's words.

brilliant comment. though my favourite bit from this is abit further on from when the clip finishes as the game is coming to a close and its clear the boks are going to win and geechs and telfers are saying the lions werent quite good enough and then geechs says 'boks played well' and telfer replies 'aye, outstanding actually'

nice bit of humility after all out support for the lions during the game

Telfer's speech to the forwards in that Living with the Lions video is a classic. You can find it on youtube....Unfortunately there is no chance that the Lions will win another test series in the professional era. It is not possible to chuck players together and expect them to beat Aus, Nz and SA in their own backyard. I think the Lions will go down 3-0 in SA. It's a shame. The game will be the poorer for it.

Incidentally, the 97 Lions team hardly played any rugby in this series and should have lost 2-1. They were outscored 3 tries to 0 in the second test. SA only lost because they could not kick a single goal or conversion! I say this as a Brit...I have no idea how we won that series.

The 2001 Lions was a far better team and probably should have won that series.

I would have to agree. As class as the 2009 Lions or any Lions team for that matter is it's not possible to put a team together in such a short time and expect them to be able to compete up to their proper standrads against teams like SA that have many players that have been playing together for years.

Ok my predictions! bare with me!Im a limerick man and a diehard munster supporter. While obviously Paulie was the man to captin the team, he IS the best second row in europe, handsdown. what makes him this? his determination to be the best he can be. anyone who knows about forward play in the game must surely admire him. The key to beating the springboks is in the front 5. they have the best secondrow partnership in the world and surely paulie must be on top of his game along with jones(i reckon) to get the better of them. to do this, they need a) a good lineout thrower, and b) good lifters. this is where the lions are lacking. the injury to fla is a disaster, no point beating around the bush he was going to start at hooker. his lineouts were like BULLETS. the pace, the precision gave o connel and donnacha for munster and indeed ireland that extra protection. if you look at props, murray and jenkins are the two form props and are odds on to start, while i agree with this, i cannot believe that john hayes hasn been picked to tour. like all props the mature with old age. im not sayin hayes is a good scrummager-far from it- but they are playin a south africa team that reportedly want to recall both van der lind and botha from leinster and ulster. this means their scrum is worrying for them. i do not think hayes would have hindered the scrum. the reason i suggest hayes and he is widely regarded as the BEST one man lifter in europe. at 6"4 and 20 odd stone, being able to FLING o connell into the air would make it easier to disrupt lineout ball. now onto the backs, the injury to tomas was a disaster, no more for o gara. the feeling around some parts of limerick for last 7/8 months or so, is that o gara hasnt been putting in the same type of performances he has done and i cannot see him being partnered by philips. also is tackling is more than suspect and surely will be targeted. I am sure people do not agree with the above but its my opinion, but this is where it gets more creative. Hands up who knows keith Earls? people in munster and ireland surely do. but who else? this BOY has been ripping up the heineken cup and magners league all season. now people point out the leinster game in the semi which was terribly disappointing for a munster supporter. what back do you know at 20 years of age can perform well when he doesnt have the ball? he touched the ball less than 5 times such was the measure of performance of the leinster players and he made a few good breaks. you can be rest assured the people of south africa dont know the man from young munster. I would put him up against habana, it wont faze him one bit and i think he could do more damage than bowe or halfpenney. As you know the second and third tests are being played at altitude and the legend that is rocky elsom says that the altitude does NOT affect your rugby. he says people who are not used to it, will come down with flu like syndroms. it does affext your fitness an hour into the game. this is something the lions should be wary of.here is my team:1.Euan murray2.lee mears3.gethin jenkins4.alun-wyn jones5.paul o Connell6.Tom Croft7.David Wallace8.Jamie Heaslip9.Mike Philips10.Stephen Jones11.Shane Williams12.Jamie Roberts13.Brian o Driscoll14.Keith Earls15.Lee Byrne

What do you think, i know the majority are irish and welsh but what can i say scotland and england havent done anything in years?

Paul Gormley,Change Williams for MonyeChange Earls for Boweand yours is the same as mine but if habana makes a break, monye could cover and make a try saving tackle and could certainly keep up with him.

Keith Earls is garbage, every appearence for the lions he's been abismal. I admit he has played very well for club but the pressure is getting to him. Change Earls for Monye and croft to M. Williams in my eyes.

this clip is so hypocritical of Jim Telfers. In his big, well-publicised and all 'hardman' 'classic' speech to the forwards before one of the tests, he made a point of saying how brits complain abroad about things not being english and good enough, and that whilst they were in south africa they wouldn't complain and have to accept certain things.

So how can he go to another country, be a guest there, and tell them not to speak their own language, dismissing them?

The clip was funny because of geechs, not jim. Every1 just sees that forwards speech and thinks 'tough guy' but don't need to be rude